Juan Soto-Francisco Lindor drama just distracts from the Mets' real problem

A lot of attention is on Juan Soto's relationship with Francisco Lindor, and understandably so. These are the co-faces of the New York Mets franchise, and it's abundantly clear that, for reasons and to a degree unknown, they did not get along last season. Owner Steve Cohen says their relationship is much better now, and Soto concurred ... albeit with a bizarre analogy.

Are they telling the truth? Who knows, but also, who cares? Are Soto and Lindor best friends? Probably not. Is that the reason why the Mets are in the midst of a disastrous year? Of course not.

Juan Soto-Francisco Lindor relationship should be the least of Mets' worries

All we can do is take people's word for it. If they say everything is fine, everything is fine. The Mets don't need them to be best friends; does anyone think Soto and Aaron Judge spent every second of every day together during Soto's lone season in the Bronx, one in which they led the New York Yankees to the AL pennant? The Mets just need these two to co-exist, and by all accounts, they're doing that even if they aren't the best of friends.

What is an issue, though, is that we've hardly seen these two stars on the field at the same time. They began the year occupying the first two spots in the Mets' order, but that only lasted eight games before Soto hurt his hamstring and landed on the IL. On the literal day Soto returned to the lineup, Lindor departed with an injury of his own — a far more serious one.

Lindor's return came two months after he landed on the IL, and of course, he returned to a lineup that did not include Soto, who tweaked his back a day prior. Soto returned the next day, but Lindor sat out that night. That's been a constant theme of this season.

Soto and Lindor played the first eight games of the season together, and the Mets went 4-4 in those contests. They played one game together in late April (even though Lindor left it early), and the Mets won that game, snapping a 12-game losing streak. They've played six games together since Lindor's long-awaited return from the IL, and the Mets have gone 2-4 in those contests, with three of those losses coming by two runs or fewer.

The Mets are one of the worst teams in baseball, but with Soto and Lindor in the lineup, they've gone 7-8. That isn't great, but they've gone a whopping 29-44 with one or neither of them. Which do you think is better?

Mets roster is not good enough to survive Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor injuries

Part of what make Soto and Lindor such valuable players, beyond their on-field skill, is their ability to play just about every day.

Outside of a Lindor oblique injury suffered in 2021, which cost him a little over a month, both of these players have been remarkably durable, appearing in at least 150 games annually. This season, though, Lindor has already missed 57 games while Soto has missed 19. The most Soto can play is 143 games and the most Lindor can play is 105.

Good teams can survive those injuries, but the Mets are not a good team. Their starting rotation remains a major issue, and the lineup beyond Soto, Lindor and rookies like AJ Ewing and Carson Benge has really struggled for much of the year. This highlights the real problem.

The Mets are fine when they have Soto and Lindor, but only fine. When they're down to one of them, it's hard for them to win on any given night, no matter the opponent. It's easy to get caught up in the drama, especially in a lost year, but had the Mets had Lindor and Soto playing every day as they had been for the past half-decade, we might not be talking about the 2026 team quite as negatively as we have been.

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